Tunnel oven for burning ceramics and the like



'Mar. 3.1925. 1,527,982

H. KOPPERS TUNNEL OVEN FOR BURNING CERAMICS AND THE LIKE giled Aug. 31,1921 SECTION Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs.

HEINRICH KOPPEBS,

VELOPMENT CORPORATION, PENNSYLVANIA.

OF ESSEX-DUKE, GERIANY, ASSIGNOR TO THE KOPPEBS OF PIT'ISIUBGH,PENNSYLVANIA, A, CORPORATION 01 TUNNEL OVEN FOB. BURNING TEE am um...filed August 31, 1921. Serial in. 407,371.

10 This invention relates to a furnace for burning fireproof lime bondedb ockssilica, dinas.

According to another invention of mine which relates to a furnace-plantfor burnin 16 fireproof, more particularly lime bonde blocks silica,dinas, separate, intermitte chambers are arra terial preheated in 'tlyoperated burning ed, to which the mat e preheatingchannels 2 resemblinga channel furnace, that is, 'oonoperated, is fed in succession and.

tinuously' from which it is conveyed, after completed burning, into thelikewise continuously operated cooling channelsgin this furnace 5 twocooling chambers are conveniently assigned to each preheating channelthecooling-to proceed very gradually. A plant of this kind isarticularly well adapted to make ossib1e,'m the burning of a0 limebonded bloc v s,- the conversion of the quartzite into cristobalite,which a long presence of the blocks in the burning chamber at hightemperature, while on the v other hand the cooling of the burnt blockshas to be done quite carefully.

I The invention relates to the development of such a plant in accordancewith the leading idea of another invention of mine in which the coolingchamber and the furnace chamber, which are operated in the manner of thechannel furnace, descend on the whole towards the cooler ends, in such amanner that under the natural buoyancy therein; the air or the wastegases in said chambers arrange themselves in layers of uniformlyditemperature. B the union of these'twofinventive ideas a urning furnaceof practically very tained, because ther in which a plurality of toenable -h rfection is ob-' mm cooling and the preheating procedures arefully controllable.

In the drawing accompan g this application an adaption partic arly whiso much of a to an undert e latter being 0-1) of Fig. 1.

The separate burning chambers 18 are connected at their endsby thetracks 17 and 19 while the preheating channels 10 and the coolin with te len th of the said chambers. The plant is of duplicate formation withright and left units, as obviously one half of the plant could servealone for the carrying out of the process. The burning furnaces 18 areplaced so high that the preheating chan-' nels 10' and the coolingchannels 11 assume channels 11 are arranged parallel for the desiredinclined position in their descent to the floor of the structure (Figs.2' and 3).

The raw material to be burned is placed in the'lower end of thepreheating channels 10 where it is gradually brought up to the level ofthe track 17 and carried-hence to the burning furnaces 18 by asliding-platform 16 which canpass along by the'track' 17 to the front ofany furnace. The material passes through the furnaces 18- in a directioncontrary to the direction of the arrows shown, all of the arrowsindicating the directions of the gases in the ovens, re-

heating channels and cooling channels. e

burnt material is-delivered from the ovens 1 on the sliding platform 20which runs on the tracks 19 and said platform 20 is convenientlyprovided with a fire roof hood for preventing cooling. The plat orm 20brings cooling channels provided for each preheating chamber, and thespwd of travelsin the s m g the completely burned material to the upperthrough the cooling y nels is half as great as in the preheating.

chamber.

As a result of the described construction an exceptionally compactarrangement is obtained, since the preheating and cooling channels arealways led respectively upward and downward along the sides of theburning furnace, and as the upper parts of said channels are locatedalongside the furnaces the upper parts of said channels will be heatedby said adjacent furnaces and a circulation will take place within thechannels in accordance with physical laws, i. e., the hotter air beingat the top of channels will seek a lower level or regionas it cools andas the air cools it will gradually circulate towards the lower ends ofthe channels. Therefore, in the preheating channels 10 the materialentering at the lower end will become progressively hotter as it ascendsin the channel, while in the cooling channels the hot or burnt materialwill be cooled 1 progressively, as it enters the cooling channels 11 atthe higher, hotter, end and will cool as it descends towards the lower,cooler, end.

The furnaces 18 may be of any suitable construction and may be heated orfired independently of each other or of said channels 10 and 11.Moreover a very simple track equipment is required, which allows theconveyance of the carriages from the preheating channels to the burningfurnaces and thence to the cooling channels in the most convenientmanner for operation.

\Vhat is claimed is 1. In a furnace plant for the described purpose, thecombination of a plurality of I from said furnaces.

3. In a furnace plant for the described purpose the combination of aplurality of elevated burning chambers, a continuously operatedpreheating chamber inclined downwardly fromsaid burning chambers, aplurality of cooling chambers inclined downwardly fromsaid burningchambers, said chambers being disposed so that the upper ends arehottest and their temperature diminishes progressively towards theirlower ends.

4. In a furnace plant for the described purposes, the combination of a'series of parallel burning chambers having front entrances and rearexits for the material, tracks extending along the fronts of saidchambers, tracks extending along the rears of said chambers, tracks atthe side of the chambers inclined upward to said front tracks,preheating channels enclosing said inclined tracks, tracks at the sideof the chambers inclined downward from said rear tracks, and coolingchannels enclosing said downward inclined tracks, said tracks beingadapted for the travel thereon of cars carrying the preheating andcooling material.

5. In afurnace plant for the described purpose, the combination of aseries of parallel burning chambers having front entrances and rearexits for the material, a track extending along the fronts of saidchambers, .more elevated tracks extending along the rears of saidchambers, a track at the side of the chambers inclined upward to saidfront track, preheating channels enclosing said inclined track, aplurality of tracks at the side of the chambers inclined downward fromeach of said rear tracks, and cooling channels enclosing said downwardinclined tracks, all of said tracks being adapted for the travel thereonof platforms carrying the material which is being "preheated and theburnt material which is being cooled.

6. In a furnace plant for the described purpose, the combination of aplurality of elevated burning chambers; continuously operated preheatingchambers and coolin chambers inclined downwardly from sai burningchambers and extending parallel to the length of said furnaces, andmeans supplying said furnaces with material length of said burningchambers, the upper portions of said preheating and cooling chambersbeing disposed alongside said burning chambers. v i

8. In a furnace plant for the described purpose, the combination of aplurality of burning chambers, continuously operated preheating chambersand cooling chambers burning chambers, means supplying burnt servingsaid burning chambers, said prematerial to the upper end of said coolinheating and cooling chambers being inchambers and means receivingpreheate clined downwardly from said burning material from the upperends of said pre- 5 chambers and extending parallel to the heatingchambers.

length of said burning chambers, the up- In testimony whereof, I havehereunto set per portions of said preheating and cooling my hand this26th day of July, 1921. v chambers being disposed alongside saidHEINRICH KOPPERS.

